I can now confirm that yesterday I was notified of my expulsion from Latvia where I lived for 12 years. This, I believe, is a long-brewing revenge by far right politicians for my investigation into their links to Russian neo-Nazis who found refuge in Kyiv and who circulated the manifesto of Christchurch shooter in 2019. It is also a punishment for my commentary on the Russian aggression in Ukraine and for Pavel Sheremet investigation. The notification doesn’t point to any specific misdemeanours or statements which prompted the decision. I was declared persona non grata, a status designed for diplomats who enjoy immunity from prosecution, not for ordinary people. This was done - as far right politicians who spearheaded the decision openly admit - in order to deny me justice in the Latvian court system: PNG status cannot be appealed in courts. This makes me conclude that I am facing political persecution. For me it is a huge personal tragedy. I am being evicted from my only beloved home, deprived of my circle of friendship and support. I love Latvia, the land of my ethnic Latvian ancestors, and have no sense of revenge. I will always remain pro-Latvian. It makes me immensely sad that high positions in the Latvian government have been captured by forces whose closest political relation is Putin and who are using Putin’s aggression in Ukraine as a pretext for eroding the rule of law and democracy in the European Union. My stance on the war in Ukraine remains unchanged. I condemn the Russian aggression and support Ukraine’s sovereignty over occupied territories. Ukraine is a wound in my heart, not a source of political gain as it is for my persecutors. But I’ll continue to criticise Western countries for mishandling this conflict and not acting in the best interests of the Ukrainian people. I shall not be gagged. Shame on those who understand what is happening but look away or buy into smear campaign waged against me by the pro-war lobby and far right info dumps. One day, they’ll come for you, too. Attn @RSF_inter @ECPMF

My journalist friends are collecting signatures under an appeal against my expulsion from Latvia addressed to UN special rapporteurs on human rights. I'd be grateful if you care to sign and/or share, no matter whether you share my views or not - the case is about our common and core freedoms. Here is the doc: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F… I am being evicted from my home and from the country where lived for the last 12 years, the land of my ethnic Latvian ancestors. Politicians who are doing it have deliberately selected an extrajudicial form of punishment because, as they openly state, "Latvia would lose this case in court". In short, I believe we are dealing with political persecution here. This is a revenge for my work - news analysis, investigations (one specific investigation), for the criticism of politicians on this platform and for jokes that drive them insane. What it all reminds most of is Putin's Russia. It illustrates Europe's slow drift towards the political regime that is so familiar to all of us who fled that country. I am being accused of spreading "Kremlin narratives", but punishing journalist for their uncomfortable opinions so severely is Kremlin's narrative and Kremlin's playbook in infowarrior parlance. It is new and welcome material for Kremlin propaganda which strives to paint Baltic countries in these very colours, as tyrannies not democracies.